SOURCE OF WEALTH: Inherited, Ziff Capital Partners

FUNDING AREAS: Environmental Causes, Climate Change, Ocean Conservation, Sustainable Agriculture, Journalism, Democracy, New York City, Martha’s Vineyard

OVERVIEW: Dirk and Natasha Ziff conduct most of their philanthropy through Vere Initiatives, which the couple established in 2022 “to further their longstanding work in philanthropy.” Vere’s mission is “to both create and inspire change that meaningfully impacts the future of the planet.” Grants and investments focus on a broad range of environmental causes and, to a lesser extent, “journalism, democracy, and geographic-based projects.” According to its website, giving targets “earlier-stage efforts where we see a path to significant impact.”

The Ziffs also maintain a charitable foundation, the Natasha and Dirk Ziff Foundation, which does not maintain a website or employ a staff.

BACKGROUND: Dirk Ziff is the older brother of Daniel and Robert Ziff. The three brothers were heirs to their family’s magazine publishing business, Ziff Davis Media. Dirk Ziff could have taken over the family business, but after earning his undergraduate degree from Columbia and an MBA from Harvard, he decided that he did not want to follow that path. At 26, Dirk Ziff pitched a proposal to his father and brothers that would give him control of over $500 million of the family’s money, which Dirk would invest. They agreed, and the brothers established Ziff Brothers Investments (ZBI), with Dirk and Robert at the helm. A little over 20 years after establishing Ziff Brothers Investments, the brothers, each worth several billions, decided to close the doors of their hedge fund. Dirk Ziff founded his own firm, Ziff Capital Partners, in 2015. He is a founding board member of New York City’s Robin Hood Foundation.

Natasha Ziff earned a degree in Political Science and Art History from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. She is a co-owner of the World Surf League and a partner at MTheory, a management company for musical artists.

ISSUES:

Environment, Climate Change, Marine Conservation and Sustainable Agriculture

Vere Initiatives is not registered as a tax-exempt organization, making it difficult to know many particulars of its giving. However, a significant portion of Vere’s support appears to focus on environmental causes and climate change. The entity names “improving the health of our oceans and expanding regenerative agriculture” as two of its main areas of engagement. In 2023, Vere joined with a group of funders including the Bezos Earth Fund and Bloomberg Philanthropies at the Our Ocean Conference in Panama to pledge $5 million to help developing countries stay on track for the U.N.’s 30x30 conservation goals. Vere has also contributed to the Ocean Resilience and Climate Alliance, the Platform for Climate and Agriculture Transformation and the Center for Climate Journalism and Communication at the University of Southern California at Annenberg.

Earlier giving through the Ziffs’ foundation has gone to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies and the National Audubon Society, among others.

Journalism and Democracy

Vere Initiatives also names journalism and democracy as areas of interest, although it does not name specific goals for its giving in these areas. Vere has provided support to Newsmatch, a “collaborative fundraising movement to support independent, public service journalism,” and Report for America, which works “to strengthen our communities and our democracy through local journalism that is truthful, fearless, fair and smart.”

Other Grantmaking Opportunities

Vere articulates interest in supporting “geographic-based projects.” Based on the Ziffs’ past giving, New York City and Martha’s Vineyard, where the couple vacation, are likely destinations for Vere support. Through their foundation, the Ziffs have supported New York City organizations including Lincoln Center, the New York Public Library, the Museum of Modern Art, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of New York, the New York Blood Center and the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. The foundation also provided ongoing support to Trinity School, which Dirk attended in his youth, and the Brearly School, a prestigious girls’ school on the Upper East Side.

Giving for Martha’s Vineyard organizations has gone to the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival and the FARM Institute, a nonprofit agricultural and educational center.

LOOKING FORWARD: Dirk and Natasha Ziff’s Vere Initiatives appears to be ramping up its giving for ocean conservation and could become a major source of environmental funding over the coming years. Whether this giving takes the form of grants, investments or other forms of support remains to be seen. Still in their 50s, the Ziffs will likely have many years to develop relationships and refine their philanthropic work.

While Vere does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding, it welcomes contact via email at info@vere.org. The organizations also maintains a page on LinkedIn.

LINKS:

• Vere Initiatives

• Vere Initiatives on LinkedIn

RELATED PROFILES:

• Daniel Ziff

• Robert Ziff

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Berkshire Hathaway

OVERVIEW: Warren Buffett has pledged to give away 99 percent of his wealth to philanthropic causes. Buffett has changed course and will no longer be channeling his fortune through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he was once a major donor. Buffett left the Gates Foundation board in 2021, after Bill and Melinda divorced. He has since decided that his fortune will be directed by his three children. That said, as IP has noted before, it is unclear where about $130 billion will go in the future with a potential 10-year spend-down timeline.

BACKGROUND: Warren Buffett was born in Omaha, but he spent much of his childhood in D.C. after his father was elected to Congress. Early on, he showed an entrepreneurial spirit. He entered the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania at 17 and transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to finish his undergraduate studies in business administration. He then received an MBA and a master's in economics from Columbia before returning to Omaha to work as a stockbroker. Buffett formed several partnerships there, one of which eventually led to him investing in and taking control of a textile manufacturing firm called Berkshire Hathaway. Gradually, he converted Berkshire Hathaway into an investment firm. Under his guidance — not to mention his talent for recognizing undervalued assets — it grew into one of the largest and most successful holding companies in the world.

GATES FOUNDATION: Buffett was so impressed with the progress the Gates Foundation has made in global health and development, and in education in the United States, that he decided to use his fortune to upscale the Gates Foundation's work rather than funnel money into his own foundation. To that end, Buffett once pledged 10 million shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class B stock to the Gates Foundation over a period of years. He has already donated more than 30 percent of that amount and is adding about 4 percent per year, but Buffett ended his relationship with the Gates Foundation’s board in 2021. Buffet previously gave nearly $39.3 billion to the Gates Foundation since 2006.

BUFFETT FAMILY FOUNDATIONS: In addition to supporting the Gates Foundation, Buffett has pledged Berkshire Hathaway stock to each of his children's foundations, worth more than $2 billion each:

• These foundations include Peter and Jennifer Buffett's NoVo Foundation, which seeks to empower adolescent girls and end violence against women, but whose giving interests have been influx. According to available tax filings, the NoVo Foundation awarded around $160 million in grants in 2017.

• The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which focuses on food and water security, conflict mitigation, endangered mammal conservation, and local community support.

• Susan Buffett's Sherwood Foundation, which focuses on early childhood education both in Nebraska and nationally and on rural and urban community development in Nebraska.

• The Howard G. Buffett and Sherwood foundations awarded $140 million and nearly $208 million in grants in 2018, respectively, and more since.

Buffett also has offered support for the foundation that bears his late wife's name, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which offers scholarships to Nebraska colleges. According to available tax filings, the foundation gave away $624 million in 2018.

Buffett’s sister Doris, who passed away in August 2020, has the Sunshine Lady Foundation, which also focuses on education, particularly for women. Available tax filings indicate that Sunshine Lady awarded $6.1 million in grants in 2018.

COMMUNITY: For the past several years, Buffett has auctioned off lunch with himself to support the Glide Foundation, raising more than $4.5 million in 2019. It is a bit of an odd partnership, as Buffett is known for being an agnostic from Omaha, while the Glide Foundation is the charitable arm of a Methodist Church in San Francisco to which Buffett has no readily apparent connection. Still, the Glide Foundation does good work, offering free meals, shelter, health services, drug abuse prevention and rehab, and domestic violence counseling to many in need.

OTHER SUPPORT: Buffett also supports the Nuclear Threat Initiative, which was founded by Ted Turner and Sam Nunn. He's also made contributions to a variety of other organizations, including the James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness, Smile Train, the Animal Rescue Foundation, Music Rising, and the Make A Wish Foundation. Most recently, he made a $10 million donation to the Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel. 

LOOKING FORWARD: Buffett has diverted his giving from the Gates Foundation through whatever entity his children will create to fullfill their father’s wishes. Buffett has mentioned before, however, that the one thing he has not given enough of is his most valuable asset — his time. And Buffett's time is extremely valuable, as evidenced by the multimillion-dollar donations a dinner with him can bring in. With this in mind, and in light of his Giving Pledge, perhaps we will see Buffett start to participate in more fundraisers and benefits. Still, with pockets as deep as Buffett's, he can afford to make significant contributions to any organization he chooses without feeling the slightest dent in his personal fortune.

Additionally, Buffett appears to be increasing the pace of his philanthropy, giving two major gifts within a single calendar year for the first time in 2022.